Shirov continued 23. Nd4! Qh1 24. f5! and Ganguly
resigned a few moves later.Manuelian's memory failed him, though,
and he inverted the moves with 23. f5??
allowing Nico back in the game.
After 23. ..ef 24. Nd4, Nico had no
need to play Qh1 and instead followed with 24. ..Rge8 25. Kf2 and probably
could have secured an advantage with 25. ..Qb6!?.

Chekhov's
(Checa's) Gun Misfires?

"Remove everything that has no
relevance to the story. If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle
hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off.
If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there." [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekhov's_gun]

Joel
Benjamin picked a great opening (pseudo-Panov) and I
mishandled the resulting IQP position, beginning on move 10. He followed an
idea from Karpov-Dreev Cap d'Agde 2000 after 11. ..a6? and established a very
powerful dark squared bind, to go with a tremendous advantage on the clock.

Benjamin-Herman after 17. ..Bd6

By move 18, black's position looked resignable (look
at all those weak pawns and bad pieces against all the available outposts for
white's knights!). Benjamin
continued 18. Qb3 (18. Nc5!?) Ba8 19. Qd3 and I took my shot with 19. ..c5!.The key for this break was to not allow white
a passed c-pawn that would likely end the game upon reaching c6.If 20. dc Be5 21. Re5 Bc6 22. Nc3 black has
the fantastic

Benjamin-Herman variation after 22. Nc3

22. ..Nb4!! and due to the fork on d3, white has no
better than the repetition after 23. Qd8 Rfd8 24. ab Rd2 25. Re2 Rd4 26. Na2
Bd5 27. Nc3 Bc6.

Which
Side Was Easier To Play?

We began to exchange inaccuracies (on either move 20
or 21, Nd5-e7 with the idea of going to f5 for black) and Benjamin missed a few chances to consolidate, most notably 24.
Qd3-g3! (threatening Bh6) Kh8 25. b2-b3!

Witness the transformation.

Benjamin-Herman after 26. ..Qb3

Not the easiest position to play with both sides having
under 2 minutes!

An immediate draw could have been had by 42. ..Ne3 43.
Be3 Qh4 (perpetual), but I went for 42.
..Nf4 retaining the tension. After 43.
g3 Nh5 (my intention had been 43. ..Bf1 but I saw at the last moment 44.
Qf4 Qh5 45. Qh4 Qf3 46. Qe4! winning), Benjamin had to find 44. f4, though the
position remains razor-sharp after 44. ..Qg4 45. Qb7

He finally faltered with 44. Qe6 and after 44. ..Qd2,
for the first time, black was not only better but winning. Unable to find a
defense after 45. Kg2 Qe2 (the
fourth and final "creeping" queen move of the game), Benjamin flagged and we won the match.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

White's opening has not been the most dangerous, and black should be able to equalize without any problems. However, I made this move too quickly, and realized that I was forcing myself to get out of trouble by tactical means after 13...Rc8 14.Rfd1 [14.Qe2 Nd5 15.Nxd5 exd5 16.Rfd1 Bf6] 14...Qe8 15.Qe2! thankfully, and somewhat luckily, the clumsy move I now make allows black to parry ideas of b2-b4 (and of general paralysis otherwise) adequately. 15...Rd8! 16.b4 Rxd1+ 17.Nxd1 Ncd7 18.Bxa6 Bxa6 19.Qxa6 Bxb4 20.Nc6 Bc5 21.Nc3

The game has been well played by both sides so far, and now I saw the most obvious move would lead to a drawn position: 21...e5 [21...Qa8 was natural and better, but I thought our situation was dicey on board 3 - so I decided to keep chances for both sides ... only to land in a position that is much more difficult for black to play than white. 22.Qxa8 (22.Qb5 Rc8 and only black can be better) 22...Rxa8 23.Rd1 Ba3 24.Bg5 Bb2 and white can draw by finding 25.Bxf6 Nxf6 26.Nb5 followed by Rd8+] 22.Bg3 Qe6 23.Qb7 A strong queen move that I underestimated. I somehow thought my queen would get too active, but in fact white's position is too solid here, and I have to find a way to draw. With little time, we both played the final part reasonably well. 23...Qb3 24.Nb5 Qb2 25.Rf1 Qc2 26.Nxe5 Nxe5 27.Bxe5 Qxa4 28.Nc3 Qd7 29.Qf3 Be7 30.Bxf6 Bxf6 31.Nd5 Be5 32.g3 b5 33.Rb1 Rd8 34.e4 h6 35.Qb3 Rb8 36.Kg2 Kh8 37.Qb4 Qe6 38.Qb3 Bd6 39.Qd3 b4 40.Rb3 Qe5 41.Ne3 Be7 42.Nd5 Bf8 43.Qf3 Qe6 44.Qd3 Re8 45.Nxb4 Rb8 46.Nd5 Rxb3 47.Qxb3 Qxe4+ 48.Qf3 Qxf3+ 49.Kxf3 Bc5 1/2-1/2

A very interesting situation has arisen, and it seems that white should be much better with the intended 17.Nxd5 [17.Nf5 however, black can uncork the cool and collected 17...Bb4! 18.Nxd5 (18.Nxh6+ may be best 18...gxh6 19.Qg4+ Kh7 20.Qe4+ is a computer line that actually seems to be white's best play. 20...f5 (20...Kh8 is more human 21.Qh4 Kh7 22.Be3 Nxe3 23.Qxb4 with a crazy mess) 21.exf6+ Kh8 22.Nxd5 Qxd5 23.Qxb4 Bb7 24.Qg4 Rg8 25.c4 Qc6 26.Qh3 Rxg2+ 27.Kf1 Rg6 28.Bd4 with a complex position the computer thinks is drawn!) 18...Qxd5 19.Nxh6+ gxh6 20.Qg4+ Kh7 21.Qxb4 and unleash a deathly counter attack 21...Bb7; 17.Ne4 also deserved attention] 17...Qxd5 18.c4 Qd7 19.Qg4 Bb7 white may not be much worse but positionally he has to be very careful. Short of time, Matt overplayed his hand. 20.Rad1 Qc7 21.Rd3 Rfd8 22.Rg3 Bf8 23.Qh5 Kh7 24.Be3 Be4

23.Rxd5!? very interesting sacrifice. White has more than ample compensation for the exchange. However, I'd have been tempted to be more prosaic and control the c-file [23.Rc1 and who knows, the opportunity to sacrifice may arise again after all - while white can move his queen to c4 and play h4-h5 to nudge black a bit] 23...exd5 24.Qd4 [24.Qe7!?] 24...Qc7 25.Qxd5+ Kg7 26.e6 This natural move really lets black off the hook, as the knight on d6 loses his stability [26.h4 would have asked black whether they want to play ...h5 - and kept the pressure] 26...Qe7 27.Qe5+ Kg8 Without stability for the knight, white searches for another outpost, but the worst is over 28.Nb5 [28.Nf7 would have been the practical decision, forcing a drawn but very slightly better endgame after 28...Rxf7 29.exf7+ Qxf7 30.b3 And white's king is a bit safer] 28...Rac8 29.Nc3 Rfe8 30.h4 now Akshat starts playing like a strong grandmaster. 30...Qg7 31.Qb5 Qd4! 32.h5 Qd6!

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Hello everyone! This is my first blog post in a long time - and before posting, I had to make sure I remembered how to play - the first three games of the season have been the first three in almost a year for me, and I'm somewhat happy with my play so far. In the first game, I fell victim to Joel Benjamin's GOTW effort, but I thought the game was quite reasonable. When we both got low on time, I purposely provoked him to go for an attack, in the hope I could show off my blitz skills in a complicated position. This backfired completely, as I got into big trouble quickly, and he wrapped things up nicely. In the second week I took my GOTW revenge as I was able to play a nice combo to win against Hungaski, in a game that was altogether more unclear than clear. The game vs Sam this week, which I annotate below, was fairly well played, with a couple of inaccuracies from both sides. It also illustrates a difficult thing in team play, balancing what the team needs with what the position needs. Ultimately, I feel my decision to repeat was wrong, as the position was without risk and it would not have been long for me to realize Bodek's win had evaporated. So I should have tried, for better or worse.

Charbonneau-NY - Shankland-NE [A34]
11.09.20131.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nf6 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 d5 5.0-0 e5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Nc3 Nc7 8.a3 Rb8 This move has been played by strong players, and while it looks weird, it stops for the time being white's idea of playing b4 9.Rb1 [9.b4 would not work out too well since the intended 9...cxb4 10.axb4 Bxb4 11.Nxe5 Nxe5 12.Qa4+ Nc6 13.Bxc6+ bxc6 14.Qxb4 and white's queen is hanging!] 9...f6 10.Ne1 More habitual would be d3 followed by Be3. The move in the game is probably too slow - by the time white gets in b4, black is well enough developed to more or less equalized. 10...Be7 11.b4 Bf5 [11...cxb4 12.axb4 Bxb4 is too dangerous, white has many moves here that should give him at least a slight edge 13.Nd3 a5 (13...Bxc3 14.Bxc6+) 14.Ba3 being one possibility] 12.Nc2 0-0 13.d3 Qd7 Black has played logical but good moves, and here, I overestimated my chances a bit, mostly by spending too much time. I should have admitted the position was just about equal and made moves. 14.bxc5 [14.Be3 was natural and probably better 14...b6 (14...Ne6 15.Ne4) 15.bxc5 bxc5 and while white's pawn structure looks better, I think black is too active for white to show anything] 14...Bxc5 15.Ne4 [15.Nb4 Nd4 16.e3 Nde6 17.Nbd5 would have been a cleaner way to steer the game towards equality] 15...Be7 16.Be3 Nd5 17.Bd2 b6 white's last few moves have been indecisive, and showed that I was already low on time. Now I realized it was time to make sure I did not fall worse 18.Nb4 Ncxb4 19.axb4 Rbc8 20.b5

I played this sound positional move quickly, but neither of us noticed the tactical flaw in it 20...Rc7 [20...Be6 this idea came about later in the game, but here it's especially annoying, ...f5 Ng5 Bxg5 Bxg5 Nc3 is threatened with a fork, and it's not easy for white to prevent it without weakening his position, black is better.] 21.Qb3 now white can breathe again and if anything, his position is a bit better because of black's fixed pawns 21...Be6 22.Qb2 Rfc8 23.Rfc1 h6 24.Rxc7 Rxc7 25.Nc3 Bc5 26.Nxd5 Bxd5 27.Bxd5+ Qxd5 28.Rc1 all played with little time, but I managed to play this part well. Now black's move helps white's cause. I think Sam thought my time pressure could show, but the move only helps white turn his slightly better pawn structure into an even slightly better pawn structure. It's not much, but :) 28...e4 29.dxe4 Qxe4 30.Be3 Solidly played 30...Qd5 31.Qb1 ideas of Rd1 31...Qf7 32.Rd1 Rd7 33.Rc1 Rc7 34.Rd1 Rd7 35.Rc1 Rc7

and I agreed to a draw, mostly because I saw our board 3 had a winning position, and board four was worse but it was random enough I thought there were chances. Turns out my evaluation was less than optimal. In reality there is little risk for white here, and if not for the team I would have played on. White's goal will be to push pawns on the kingside, one fine day :) 1/2-1/2

The Knights have a lot to look forward to this season. Nico lost a game this week - but his play has been full of poise.

Times-NE - Checa-NY [D05]
11.09.2013Nico is a great young player - but in this game, his lack of experience hurts him in the opening. 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 c5 4.c3 Nc6 An invitation to play a "noteboom" or a "slav" down a tempo. While this may not be so bad, it needs to be handled very carefully. 5.dxc5 a5 6.Bb5 e6 7.b4

7...axb4 This move helps white a lot - and was based on a miscalculation. [7...Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Qb3 Bd7 And while I'd rather be white, black does have compensation here.] 8.cxb4 Bd7 9.Bxc6 Bxc6 10.Nc3 now white's position is easy to play. Nico tried his best to complicate the position, but white's advantage was too stable. We know he's going to bounce back! 10...Be7 11.Bb2 0-0 12.0-0 Qb8 13.Qc2 e5 14.Ne2 A very strong plan 14...e4 15.Nfd4 Ng4 16.Ng3

Black is on the verge of being in trouble but Matt plays the resourceful 21...f4! 22.exf4 Nxf4 23.Bf1 Nh3+ [23...Rab8 24.Qxa5 (24.g3 Nd5 25.Bg2 Rb2 26.Qxa5 Ne4 with close to enough counterplay) 24...Nh3+ seemed to be a better move order for black] 24.gxh3 Qxf3 25.Bg2 Qf4 26.Qe2 [26.Bxa8 Rxa8 27.Qe2 in hindsight this capture looks like it is safe enough for white, who must have had knightmares landing on f3.] 26...Rab8 the worst is over for black, and matt manages to handle the rest of the game precisely despite low time 27.Qxe6+ Kh8 28.Qe5 Rf8 29.Qxf4 Rxf4 30.Rab1 Rbf8 31.Rc5 Rxf2 32.Rxa5 Nc4 33.Rg5 h6 34.Rg3 Rxa2 35.Bd5 Ra4 36.Bxc4 Rxc4 37.Rb7 Rc1+ 38.Kg2 Rc2+ 39.Kg1 Re8 40.Kf1 Rxh2 41.Rgxg7 at this point I was not sure who was trying to win, but it ended as it should anyway 41...Rxh3 42.Rh7+ Kg8 43.Rbg7+ Kf8 44.Rxa7 Kg8 45.Rag7+ Kf8 1/2-1/2

Having to play for the Knights brings back something in me - and so I've also been dabbling on chess.com and ICC - blitzing a fair bit to get back into tactical shape. 2013 has been a year for me to get back into shape - but chess-wise, I clearly still have work to do! It's still difficult to come play at the Marshall after having been at work for nearly 12 hours - but somehow, I can't stay away from it.

Until next time...
Pascal

Manager's Note:
As always, a big thank you to our sponsors, ChessNYC, and a special thank you to our new
Technical Director, Jonathan Spiegel

When Nicolas de T. Checa was pronounced New York's state chess champion after the tournament ended earlier this month, he was asleep. After all, the next day was the first day of school.

The 11-year-old Dobbs Ferry resident had competed in Albany over the Labor Day weekend against rivals decades older to become the youngest champion in the tournament's 135-year history.

But for Nicolas, news of the big win had to wait. "When we say school is first, school is first," said his father, who is also named Nicolas. "We didn't want him to be tired."

The middle schooler's accomplishments would be notable for a chess player of any age. Nicolas, a slight, brown-haired sixth-grader who goes by Nico, reached a national master rating that places him in the top 1% of all competitive chess players in the U.S.

He also won the New York State Middle School Championship this year and was New York's representative in the Barber Tournament in Middleton, Wis., a competition between 50 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. He placed sixth in that tournament.

The winning formula: years of practice, with people and computers. Nicolas began playing chess when he was 4, and spent hours at it, taking advantage of chess software programs, and studying masters and their strategies.

"He's one of a handful of kids under 12 years old right now who could one day be U.S. champion," says Greg Shahade, an international master of chess and former National High School Champion.

Mr. Shahade founded the U.S. Chess School, which hosts invitation-only chess instructional camps for young players in locations including San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. Nicolas has attended three times.

Attaining advanced-player status at a young age is becoming more common, Mr. Shahade says. Parents are increasingly exposing their children to the game as early as age 4 or 5, a time of life Mr. Shahade says isn't too early to grasp the game's complexities.

Starting young isn't their only advantage. For many of today's best young players, the prevalence of online chess-playing and computer software make playing and studying easier.

In the past, players could use textbooks or play at a chess club, but most of the time relied on being geographically close to other strong players, Mr. Shahade said.

Technology has also made it possible for players in remote areas to become competitive. "Now, you can log onto the Internet and play against other people at all times of day," he said.

Nicolas attributes online games and evaluations with helping him improve quickly after he started using them consistently when he was 7 years old.

There can be a downside to the online access.

Chess players' games are logged online, and can also be watched in real time. That means opponents of Nicolas can study his moves—just as he is studying theirs.

On a typical day, he spends one to two hours studying chess, and closer to four or five hours a day during the summer.

Nicolas is a member of the Marshall Chess Club in Manhattan, where the late world champion Bobby Fischer played. The young master competes there now with his team, the New York Knights.

His win at the New York State Championship, which is run by the Continental Chess Association, came after some late-night number-crunching.

Although some other competitors placed higher than Nicolas, he was named the winner because due to tiebreaks he had the highest score of any New York resident in the tournament.

He also became the national champion this summer for his age category in an online tournament sponsored by the U.S. Chess Federation.

Thee next big challenge is a tournament in Al Ain, in the United Arab Emirates, in mid-December. Before then, he is hoping to fix problems in his openings and add to his repertoire of moves.

For now, since the school year has started, Nicolas is back to his studies and taking part in other outside activities, including soccer and karate.

He says his friends know he is a talented chess player, but it hasn't been a frequent topic of conversation.

"Chess is a hobby for me, and I'm going to continue playing it as a hobby," he says.

It has been a profitable one so far. He has made several thousand dollars from tournament winnings, but his father says any cash goes right into a bank account.

A version of this article appeared September 13, 2013, on page A15 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: It's Checkmate, Then Back to School.

Goldenberg had a very favorable position and sought to prevent black from castling queenside with 22. Nf4?? (if 22. ..0-0-0 23. Rae1 Qd4 24. Rf2 and white is much better), but forgot about 22. ..Rg8-h8! trapping his queen. Kumar converted 25 moves later.

Aravind Kumar

The Knights play the New England Nor'Easters on Wednesday, September 11th. Thanks, as always, to our generous sponsors, CHESSNYC!!--Matt Herman